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22/10/2023

ECF National Club Championships 2023

The National Club Championships have not been held since 2018.  Historically, it was run as a standard-rate event with teams in the early rounds playing at each other’s venues on dates agreed by the teams within the period (e. g. a month) allotted to the rounds.  Also, there was a repêchage secondary knockout for 1st-round losers competing for a trophy in the form of a plate.  That was of the order of 55+ years ago, continuing through to 2018 it seems.  There was also a one-day National Clubs Rapidplay as late as 2003 if not later.

This current new-format event is a rapidplay event but somewhat inappropriately lacks “rapidplay” in its name.  There remains no standard-rate National Club Championship, it seems.

Changes in available chess competitions and player preferences meant numbers of entrants fell, and now the whole event has been run as a weekend event: a sort of team weekend congress.  One factor in the demise of the old standard-rate event would indeed have been the formation by Sheffield-born Chris Dunworth of the original 4NCL, which was meant to be an improvement on the BCF’s National Club Championship.

The revival of the event in 2023 was held at the University of Hull’s Canham Turner Conference Centre, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX, over five rounds from Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd October, for teams of four players (with a pool of six players allowed) from any club “that participates in a league in England, Scotland, Ireland or Wales.”  For these purposes, a team in the 4NCL was permitted to enter.   The only club which “Heffalump Hunters” players seem to have in common seems to be 4NCL Online, though what league they play in as a team is unclear.

The “Plate” competitions have been discontinued under the present format.

There were 14 clubs, with She Plays To Win (of the 4NCL, and including Aashita RoyChowdhury of Leeds) fielding two teams and Hull Chess Club fielding 5, meaning the total number of teams entered was 19.  In isolation, that could be seen as a pretty poor turnout for a “national” event, to put it mildly, but looking back at previous events (run under the old system), there were more teams than 2018’s apparent entry of only 16 teams.  That said, eight of this year’s teams were from Hull & District.  In 2017 there seem to have been 21 teams.  Geographical location might have counted against Hull this year.  In 2015 there were only two teams in the top section, who played each other in each of the four rounds!

(For records of past events see https://www.ecfresource.co.uk/national-clubs-championships-archive/.)

This all seems much reduced as compared with things say 50 years ago.

In the event, two team did not materialise, which may have been due to the weather.  Also, 3Cs’ top player Adam Ashton was missing in round 1, occasioning a default, suggesting his journey to Hull was subject to delays caused by adverse weather.

Teams competing in the three sections numbered 4 in the Open, 5 in the Under-2000 (average) and 8 in the Under-1700 (average).  That meant a standard 5-round Swiss had to be replaced by a modified pairing system.  In the Open, the odd number of teams meant “triangular” pairings were adopted whereby in one round 2 payers from team A play 2 from team B, while the other 2 from team B play 2 players from team C, and the other 2 from team C play the other 2 from team A.  Then in another round the same is repeated with players playing ones they did not play the first time.  That is manageable when played over two rounds, but round 2 of the Under 2000 saw local teams Beverley Patzers, East Hull Tigers, and Hull Chess Club 2 playing both legs of a triangular match in one round, and for some reason that involved five players playing a total of three games each in the one round.  Presumably these games were played at a rapidplay rate.  (The prescribed time control was 90 minutes plus 30-second increments from move 1, in a four-hour playing session.)

So, seemingly the event was a success when seen in context, though one wonders why more teams, from Yorkshire especially, had not entered.  Did the fact that the event was to be FIDE-rated, necessitating players being ECF Gold members, play a part?  Organiser Stephen Greep says, “I am not actually sure if that put people off.”  Maybe, then, the whole concept of the event in this new format is not popular in today’s chess climate.

The National Clubs website enables just about every game to be replayed on screen, as almost all games were played on “live” boards, besides the website carrying a commentary on the last round by GM Peter Wells and IWM Natasha Regan, and photographs of winning teams etc.; see https://www.englishchess.org.uk/ecf-national-club-championships-2023.  More photographs can be seen on the website of the omni-present Brendan O’Gorman: https://brendanogorman.smugmug.com/Chess/2023/National-Club-Championship-2023/.

Final positions were as in the following tables.  Regarding the match points scored by teams, one has to bear in mind that in the triangular matches, the two legs of teams meeting each other were counted as two matches each played for a single match point for a won match and half a match point for a drawn match.  Tied placings were resolved where possible by the match result between the teams concerned, otherwise by game points.

	Open	P	W	D	L	MP	GP		Under 1700	P	W	D	L	MP	GP
1	3Cs (Oldham)	5	2	2	1	6	11½	1	Victoria Dock (Hull)	5	4	0	1	8	11
2	Heffalump Hunters	5	2	2	1	6	11½	2	Hull Chess Club 3	5	3	0	2	6	13
3	Warwick University	5	1	3	1	5	10	3	She Plays To Win A	5	2	2	1	6	10
4	Hull Chess Club 1	5	1	1	3	3	6½	4	DHSS	5	2	2	1	6	10
								5	She Plays To Win B	5	3	0	2	6	7
	Under 2000	P	W	D	L	MP	GP	6	Wanstead and Woodford	5	1	1	3	3	8½
1	Hull Chess Club 2	4	3	1	0	7	10½	7	Hull Chess Club 5	5	1	1	3	3	7½
2	Beverley Patzers	4	1	3	0	5	9	8	Hull Chess Club 4	5	0	2	3	2	8
3	Redditch Chess Club	4	2	1	1	5	9½
4	Ashfield	4	2	1	1	5	8½
5	East Hull Tigers	4	0	0	4	0	2½

Round-by-round results were as follows.

	Open
	Round 1
	3Cs	1-1	Hull Chess Club 1
W	Alexander Longson	0-1	Kamila Hyreshenko
B	Alan J Walton	1-0	Joe Varley
	Hull Chess Club 1	1½-½	Warwick University
W	Andrei Ciuravin	1-0	Federico Rocco
B	Maksym Larchikov	½-½	Damirali Magzumov
	Warwick University	1½-½	3Cs
W	Viktor Stoyanov	½-½	John L Bentley
B	Arya Cont	1d0	default
	Round 2
	3Cs	2-2	Warwick University
W	Adam G Ashton	½-½	Viktor Stoyanov
B	Alexander Longson	½-½	Federico Rocco
W	John L Bentley	0-1	Arya Cont
B	Alan J Walton	1-0	Damirali Magzumov
	Heffalump Hunters	3-1	Hull Chess Club 1
W	Arno Sterck	1-0	Kamila Hyreshenko
B	Michael Green	½-½	Andrei Ciuravin
W	Steven Vanden Bussche	1-0	Joe Varley
B	Maxim Dunn	½-½	Maksym Larchikov
	Round 3
	Warwick University	1-3	Heffalump Hunters
W	Viktor Stoyanov	½-½	Arno Sterck
B	Federico Rocco	0-1	Steven Vanden Bussche
W	Arya Cont	½-½	Michael Green
B	Damirali Magzumov	0-1	Maxim Dunn
	Hull Chess Club 1	½-3½	3Cs
W	Kamila Hyreshenko	0-1	Adam G Ashton
B	Andrei Ciuravin	½-½	Alexander Longson
W	Joe Varley	0-1	John L Bentley
B	Maksym Larchikov	0-1	Alan J Walton
	Round 4
	Hull Chess Club 1	2-2	Warwick University
W	Kamila Hyreshenko	1-0	Viktor Stoyanov
B	Andrei Ciuravin	½-½	Arya Cont
W	Joe Varley	0-1	Federico Rocco
B	Maksym Larchikov	½-½	Damirali Magzumov
	3Cs	2½-1½	Heffalump Hunters
W	Adam G Ashton	½-½	Arno Sterck
B	Alexander Longson	1-0	Maxim Dunn
W	John L Bentley	½-½	Michael Green
B	Alan J Walton	½-½	Steven Vanden Bussche
	Round 5
	Heffalump Hunters	2-2	3Cs
W	Arno Sterck	0-1	Adam G Ashton
B	Steven Vanden Bussche	1-0	Alexander Longson
W	Maxim Dunn	½-½	John L Bentley
B	Michael Green	½-½	Alan J Walton
	Warwick University	3-1	Hull Chess Club 1
W	Viktor Stoyanov	½-½	Kamila Hyreshenko
B	Federico Rocco	½-½	Maksym Larchikov
W	Damirali Magzumov	1-0	Joe Varley
B	Arya Cont	1d0	default
	Under 2000
	Round 1
	Hull Chess Club 2	1½-½	Beverley Patzers
W	John G Cooper	½-½	Paul SN Kendall
B	Kristian C Usifoh	1-0	Michael C Hackett
	Beverley Patzers	1-1	East Hull Tigers
W	Thomas L Hackett	½-½	Phil Bawden
B	Bruce R Oliver	½-½	Phil H Crook
	East Hull Tigers	1-1	Hull Chess Club 2
W	Chris J Matthews	1-0	Jack Walker
B	Ian Flanagan	0-1	Xiaofan (David) Li
	Round 2
	Ashfield	1½-2½	Redditch Chess Club
W	David H Coates	½-½	Daniel M Lambourne
B	Neil Graham	½-½	Harry G Evans
W	Robert P Taylor	½-½	David Smith
B	Robert H Willoughby	0-1	T Giles Stanton
	Hull Chess Club 2	2-2	Beverley Patzers
W	John G Cooper	½-½	Paul SN Kendall
W	Kristian C Usifoh	½-½	Tim M Turner
B	Kristian C Usifoh	1-0	Michael C Hackett
B	Benedikt Pitel	0-1	Michael C Hackett
	Beverley Patzers	3-1	East Hull Tigers
W	Paul SN Kendall	1-0	Phil Bawden
W	Thomas L Hackett	½-½	Phil Bawden
B	Derek A Sheppard	1-0	Andy Booth
B	Bruce R Oliver	½-½	Phil H Crook
	East Hull Tigers	1-3	Hull Chess Club 2
W	Chris J Matthews	1-0	Jack Walker
W	Ian Flanagan	0-1	John G Cooper
B	Ian Flanagan	0-1	Xiaofan (David) Li
B	Phil H Crook	0-1	Xiaofan (David) Li
	Round 3
	Beverley Patzers	2-2	Ashfield
W	Paul SN Kendall	½-½	David H Coates
B	Tim M Turner	½-½	Neil Graham
W	Derek A Sheppard	½-½	Robert P Taylor
B	Michael C Hackett	½-½	Robert H Willoughby
	Redditch Chess Club	4-0	East Hull Tigers
W	Daniel M Lambourne	1-0	Phil Bawden
B	Harry G Evans	1-0	Ian Flanagan
W	Nigel S Towers	1-0	Andy Booth
B	David Smith	1d0	Phil H Crook
	Round 4
	Beverley Patzers	2-2	Ashfield
W	Paul SN Kendall	½-½	David H Coates
B	Tim M Turner	½-½	Neil Graham
W	Derek A Sheppard	½-½	Robert P Taylor
B	Michael C Hackett	½-½	Robert H Willoughby
	Redditch Chess Club	4-0	East Hull Tigers
W	Daniel M Lambourne	1-0	Phil Bawden
B	Harry G Evans	1-0	Ian Flanagan
W	Nigel S Towers	1-0	Andy Booth
B	David Smith	1d0	Phil H Crook
	Round 5
	Ashfield	1½-2½	Hull Chess Club 2
W	David H Coates	0-1	John G Cooper
B	David Flynn	1-0	Kristian C Usifoh
W	Robert P Taylor	½-½	Xiaofan (David) Li
B	Robert H Willoughby	0-1	Benedikt Pitel
	Redditch Chess Club	2-2	Beverley Patzers
W	Daniel M Lambourne	½-½	Paul SN Kendall
B	Harry G Evans	½-½	Tim M Turner
W	Nigel S Towers	0-1	Thomas L Hackett
B	David Smith	1-0	Bruce R Oliver
	Under 1700
	Round 1
	Hull Chess Club 4	1½-2½	Victoria Dock
W	Hussam Al Haidar	0-1	Mark I Collinson
B	John Scotter	0-1	A Peter Owst
W	Dominik Pitel	½-½	Jim Miklevicz
B	Stuart Sharp	1-0	Peter Eggleton
	Hull Chess Club 3	3-1	Hull Chess Club 5
W	Bryan Hesler	1-0	Gabriel Wood
B	Oleg Dukalev	1-0	Ewan Black
W	Paul A Allison	0-1	Andrew Donegan
B	Philip S Wood	1-0	Antoni Garczynski
	She Plays To Win A	1-0	DHSS
W	Rose Wabuti	1-0	Mark S Ashley
B	default	d-d
	DHSS	½-½	She Plays To Win B
W	David J Gilbert	½-½	Aashita RoyChowdhury
B		d-d	default
	She Plays To Win B	1-0	She Plays To Win A
W	Bryony Eccleston	1-0	Vash Ravi
B	default	d-d	default
	Round 2
	Victoria Dock	2-2	She Plays To Win B
W	Mark I Collinson	1-0	Bryony Eccleston
B	A Peter Owst	0-1	Aashita RoyChowdhury
W	Jim Miklevicz	0-1	Maya Tager
B	Peter Eggleton	1d0	default
	Wanstead and Woodford	0-4	Hull Chess Club 3
W	Ryan Colclough	0-1	Oleg Dukalev
B	Pete Meadows	0-1	Paul A Allison
W	Colin Li	0-1	Philip S Wood
B	Krishna Raikundalia	0-1	Sean Smith
	She Plays To Win A	2-2	Hull Chess Club 4
W	Alannah Ashton	0-1	Joseph Catto
B	Rose Wabuti	0-1	Hussam Al Haidar
W	Tosin Ononaiye	1-0	Dominik Pitel
B	Vash Ravi	1-0	Stuart Sharp
	Hull Chess Club 5	2-2	DHSS
W	Gabriel Wood	1-0	Mark S Ashley
B	Ewan Black	0-1	Stephen C Pride
W	Antony Holgate	0-1	David J Gilbert
B	Antoni Garczynski	1d0	default
	Round 3
	She Plays To Win B	0-4	Hull Chess Club 3
W	Bryony Eccleston	0-1	Bryan Hesler
B	Aashita RoyChowdhury	0-1	Oleg Dukalev
W	Maya Tager	0-1	Paul A Allison
B	default	0d1	Philip S Wood
	Victoria Dock	2½-1½	She Plays To Win A
W	Mark I Collinson	½-½	Alannah Ashton
B	A Peter Owst	0-1	Rose Wabuti
W	Peter Eggleton	1-0	Tosin Ononaiye
B	Ron V Kemp	1-0	Vash Ravi
	DHSS	2½-1½	Wanstead and Woodford
W	Brendan O'Gorman	½-½	Mark R A Murrell
B	Mark S Ashley	½-½	Ryan Colclough
W	Stephen C Pride	1-0	Colin Li
B	David J Gilbert	½-½	Krishna Raikundalia
	Hull Chess Club 4	1½-2½	Hull Chess Club 5
W	Hussam Al Haidar	0-1	Gabriel Wood
B	John Scotter	½-½	Ewan Black
W	Dominik Pitel	0-1	Andrew Donegan
B	Stuart Sharp	1-0	Antony Holgate
	Round 4
	Hull Chess Club 3	1-3	Victoria Dock
W	Bryan Hesler	½-½	Mark I Collinson
B	Oleg Dukalev	0-1	Richard Atkinson
W	Philip S Wood	½-½	Peter Eggleton
B	Sean Smith	0-1	Ron V Kemp
	Hull Chess Club 5	1½-2½	She Plays To Win B
W	Gabriel Wood	0-1	Bryony Eccleston
B	Andrew Donegan	½-½	Aashita RoyChowdhury
W	Antony Holgate	0-1	Maya Tager
B	Antoni Garczynski	1d0	default
	DHSS	2-2	Hull Chess Club 4
W	Brendan O'Gorman	0-1	Hussam Al Haidar
B	Mark S Ashley	1-0	Stuart Sharp
W	Stephen C Pride	1-0	Dominik Pitel
B	David J Gilbert	0-1	Edward Staples
	She Plays To Win A	2½-1½	Wanstead and Woodford
W	Alannah Ashton	½-½	Mark R A Murrell
B	Rose Wabuti	0-1	Pete Meadows
W	Tosin Ononaiye	1-0	Colin Li
B	Vash Ravi	1-0	Krishna Raikundalia
	Round 5
	Victoria Dock	1-3	DHSS
W	Mark I Collinson	½-½	Brendan O'Gorman
B	Richard Atkinson	½-½	Mark S Ashley
W	Peter Eggleton	0-1	Stephen C Pride
B	Ron V Kemp	0-1	David J Gilbert
	Hull Chess Club 3	1-3	She Plays To Win A
W	Bryan Hesler	0-1	Alannah Ashton
B	Oleg Dukalev	0-1	Rose Wabuti
W	Paul A Allison	1-0	Tosin Ononaiye
B	Philip S Wood	0-1	Vash Ravi
	She Plays To Win B	3-1	Hull Chess Club 4
W	Bryony Eccleston	1-0	Joseph Catto
B	Aashita RoyChowdhury	1-0	Hussam Al Haidar
W	Maya Tager	1-0	Dominik Pitel
B	default	0d1	Stuart Sharp
	Wanstead and Woodford	2½-1½	Hull Chess Club 5
W	Mark R A Murrell	1-0	Gabriel Wood
B	Ryan Colclough	½-½	Ewan Black
W	Colin Li	1-0	Andrew Donegan
B	Krishna Raikundalia	0-1	Antoni Garczynski